KARACHI, Sept 27: In response to a Pakistan Bar Council call, the legal fraternity on Thursday observed a complete boycott of proceedings in the City Courts, ATC Courts and Malir Districts Courts to protest against the filing of nomination papers by Gen Pervez Musharraf for the presidential election.

Members of the Karachi Bar Association came out of the City Courts in a procession and blocked M.A. Jinnah Road for some time to lodge their protest against Pervez Musharraf’s nomination as a presidential candidate.

The lawyers shouted slogans against the president, his allies and ‘military dictators’. They also raised slogans in favour of the judiciary and lawyers’ presidential candidate, former Supreme Court judge Wajihuddin Ahmed.

The judges remained present in their chambers, but the cases could not be processed as the lawyers stayed away from courts. The stamp vendors also kept their shops closed as a mark of solidarity with the lawyers. The undertrial prisoners were not brought to the courts from the prisons.

The lawyers marched on court premises and held a rally in front of the office of the election commission of South district, situated on the courts’ premises near the City Courts police station.

The police blocked Lewis Road at two points by parking police vans to stop the lawyers’ procession, but the lawyers came on M.A. Jinnah Road via courts of the Central district.

Earlier, they held a general body meeting in the Shuhada-i-Punjab Hall of the City Courts where they criticised Pervez Musharraf for filing papers as a presidential candidate.

They announced that the lawyers’ community was united across the country and would fully support Justice Wajihuddin Ahmed.

KBA President and member of the Sindh Bar Council Iftikhar Javaid Qazi said Pervez Musharraf was not above the law and was bound to follow the constitution.

He said the conditions of the two-year gap period for government employees to contest elections was not only for assembly members but also for presidential candidates, including Gen Musharraf.

Referring to Articles 6, 41 and 63 of the constitution, he said these articles had clearly defined the conditions for candidates, adding that under these laws Gen Musharraf did not qualify for the presidential slot.

Mr Qazi criticised political parties and said they were only serving their own interests and did not worry about the crisis gripping the country.

The political parties, he said, had failed to play any positive role for bringing about a change in the system, adding that the credit for it went to the lawyers who successfully ran a campaign for the independence of the judiciary.

He said government servants could not contest elections and those who did so would be strongly opposed. He said Justice Wajihuddin’s reputation was without a blemish and he deserved to be voted into power in the best interest of the country.

Sindh Bar Council Mohammad member Aqeel said the lawyers were not ready to accept the general with or without uniform and asked the people to join hands against the dictators.He said the lawyers would continue their struggle for the restoration of democracy, the supremacy of the constitution and against the military dictators. He stressed that the lawyers should maintain unity in their ranks and step up the struggle for the rule of law and strengthening of democratic institutions.

KBA general-secretary Naeem Qureshi said Pervez Musharraf was a government servant and was bound to follow the rules for contesting elections. He said people were not ready to accept him as president any longer, adding that it was time for the army to return to the barracks.

The military rulers, he said, had ruled the country for about 40 years and did not let the democratic institutions take roots during this long period.

He castigated the politicians for “serving their personal interests through deals” and added that the politicians always served as the ‘B team’ of the military rulers without keeping the country’s interests in their mind. He appreciated the lawyers’ role, especially for the independence of the judiciary, and democratic norms.

Naheed Afzal alleged that the military generals always exploited the country and misused their official powers.

He also criticized the so-called graduate assembly’s members for what he said their failure to pass a bill against the dictators who were violating the constitution.

He said both Pervez Musharraf and Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry were government servants and the CJP also had the right to file his nomination papers for the presidential election.

The existing constitutional crisis in the country, he said, would further aggravate if Pervez Musharraf did not tender his resignation.

Mohammad Iqbal Aqeel said the country was facing an extremely serious crisis and the entire responsibility for the ‘chaos’ rested on Pervez Musharraf.

He alleged that Article 6 of the constitution (law for high treason) applied to President Musharraf as he always violated the constitution and was doing so with no checks from the politicians.

He said the government had failed to maintain its writ and protect the life and honour of the people. He asked the lawyers to step up their efforts against the military rulers.

Other KBA members, including Khalid Junejo, Abdul Samad Baloch, Farhad Khan and Raja Anwar, also spoke.

They condemned the election commission of Pakistan for changing the rules for the presidential election. They also expressed their concern over the deteriorating law and order situation, increasing prices of the daily-use commodities even in Ramazan.